THE number of Bolton children will exceed the secondary school places available for them in just four years’ time, it has been revealed.

Education chiefs said that more than 1,000 extra high school places will have to be created to cope with the demand.

They have revealed that by 2018 the number of pupils requiring places in secondary schools will exceed the available capacity — and that about 1,500 extra places will need to be found by 2024.

The expansion plans come after a five-year programme to increase primary school places by 4,000 at a cost of more than £35 million.

Bolton Council bosses, who say they have been working throughout this year to project future demands for places, said that while the growth for primary school places appears to be “levelling off”, their current projections indicate a need for more secondary school places.

Children’s services is now in the early phases of developing a strategy for secondary school expansion to meet the increasing demand.

A council spokesman said: “Over recent years the number of primary school children in the borough has been growing and we have responded by creating more primary school places.

“It is anticipated more places will also be needed in secondary schools from 2018, and by 2024 we expect we will need an extra 1,500 places. We expect demand to be greatest in the central areas of Bolton, where the population of young people is growing fast, but it is too early to say which individual schools will require expansion or how much this will cost.”

He added: “Funding for projects such as the creation of new places is provided from government grants and we won’t know how much Bolton will receive until nearer the time.”

Town Hall chiefs said that the primary school expansion programme — which was started just a few years after a number of primary schools were closed — has transformed the quality of a large number of primary school learning environments.

The spokesman added: “This transformation has contributed to the positive trend in the educational attainment of primary school pupils over recent years.

“Of significant note is the recent opening of the new- build Clarendon Primary School, which opened at Easter.”

Earlier this year the Local Government Association warned there were “real concerns” that the “easier solutions” had now been taken in the primary school sector and dealing with the surge in demand for secondary school places will become more costly and complex.